The UAB School of Medicine will host the 7th Annual Southeastern Immunology Symposium (SIS) on June 16 and 17 at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel and Medical Forum Conference Center. The Symposium provides a forum where the newest developments in basic, translational and clinical immunology will be shared with the goal of fostering increased relationships and collaborations.

In a collaborative study using a mouse model, University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers from the departments of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Biostatistics, Emergency Medicine, Pathology, and Surgery have found mechanistic links between older stored red blood cell transfusions and subsequent bacterial pneumonia.

The UAB Department of Ophthalmology has changed its name to the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, a move to reflect the comprehensive scope of services the department provides ranging from state-of-the-art patient care, comprehensive education for the next generation of ophthalmologists, and groundbreaking research.

Huntsville Regional Medical Campus students, family medicine and internal medicine residents, full-time and volunteer faculty, and their dean, Roger Smalligan, M.D., MPH, had three oral presentations and six posters accepted to the Southern Regional Meeting (SRM) that took place Feb. 22-24 in New Orleans.

David Rogers, M.D., UAB Chief Wellness Officer, will be presenting proposals for potential employee wellness programs at three upcoming grand rounds. He is also seeking input from faculty across the School of Medicine and will use the feedback that is collected to guide the future of wellness initiatives at UAB Medicine.

The School of Medicine Office for Diversity and Inclusion will present Theater Delta on Tuesday, April 3, from 3-5 p.m. at the Edge of Chaos. Delta Theater uses improvisation and audience participation to illustrate how unconscious bias can creep into our daily lives and decision-making.

After 11 years in leadership as the associate dean for students, Laura Kezar, M.D., is stepping out of the role effective August 1. She will continue as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Five faculty members in the UAB School of Medicine have been named the 2018 class of James A. Pittman Jr., M.D., Scholars, a program created to recognize the contributions of junior faculty and support the recruitment and retention of highly competitive scientists and physician-scientists.

Marianthe Grammas, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, is a junior faculty winner of the Dean’s Excellence Award in Service.